Every weekday from now until Selection Sunday (and every day in March) will feature analysis of the previous night plus a quick look at games with the potential to impact the final NCAA tournament field of 68.

Brigham Young: The Cougars won 83-76 at San Francisco, which doesn't mean much in the big picture but does give BYU (12-7) its first true road victory since the second week of November. Dave Rose's team is skilled enough to nudge its way into the at-large picture, but it probably needs to plow through much of the non-Gonzaga portions of its West Coast Conference schedule to do it.

Connecticut:The Huskies' 83-73 triumph at Memphis provides a valuable road victory and helps offset some early losses in the American Athletic Conference to Southern Methodist (understandable) and Houston (much less understandable). UConn improved to 14-3.

Minnesota: The Golden Gophers (14-4) stifled Ohio State 63-53, securing their most impressive victory to date. Minnesota is hardly a sure thing, but it's worth nothing it is only one game worse after 18 games last season despite losing some key pieces and firing former coach Tubby Smith.

THURSDAY DECLINERS

Colorado: Frankly, a 69-56 loss at home to UCLA sounds about right in the wake of Spencer Dinwiddie's season-ending knee injury. But it only reinforces the concern the Buffaloes (14-4) won't be anywhere near as good without him.

Missouri: Losses to Georgia and now Vanderbilt sandwiched around a two-point squeaker over woebegone Auburn is a suboptimal way for the Tigers to open play in the less-than-stellar SEC.

New Mexico State: The Aggies (14-6) possess superior talent to everyone else in the reconstructed WAC. So while the travel is ridiculous in a league that plants flags in Chicago, Seattle, the San Joaquin Valley and the Rio Grande Valley, an 86-81 loss at Chicago State is the sort of result that will impact seeding come March (assuming New Mexico State wins the WAC as projected).

TEN WEEKEND GAMES THAT MATTER

Toledo at Akron (Saturday, 11 a.m., ESPNU): It's a matchup of arguably the two best teams in the Mid-American Conference, as the visiting Rockets (14-2, 2-1) head across Ohio to face regular league contender Akron (11-5, 3-0).

Tennessee at Kentucky (Saturday, noon, CBS): A win in Lexington would mean a lot for the Volunteers (11-5, 2-1 SEC), who don't have nearly the same hole to climb out as they did in coach Cuonzo Martin's first two seasons but will only get so many chances for impressive triumphs the rest of this season. This happens to be one of them.

Arkansas at Georgia (Saturday, 1:30): The pattern during Mike Anderson's first two seasons in Fayetteville was to collect a riveting victory over a strong opponent at home and then promptly lay an egg against a lesser team on the road. The Razorbacks, incidentally, are coming off an overtime defeat of Kentucky.

Oklahoma at Baylor (Saturday, 2, ESPN2): A few days after a complete no-show against Texas Tech, Baylor gets a game against a highly competent team. Given the Bears' erratic nature over the last few years, that means Baylor is due to win by 15 or more.

Oklahoma State at Kansas (Saturday, 4, CBS): The first of two (and maybe three or four) rounds featuring Marcus Smart on one side and Andrew Wiggins on the other. This should be fun.

Pittsburgh at Syracuse (Saturday, 4, ESPN): The winner stands alone atop the ACC after five games, though it's worth mentioning Pittsburgh has a lot to gain from a victory considering its middling nonconference schedule.

Indiana State at Wichita State (Saturday, 4, ESPN2): If the Shockers (18-0, 5-0 Missouri Valley) are going to trip up at home, the Sycamores (14-3, 5-0) are the most likely team to deal them a loss.

UNLV at San Diego State (Saturday, 6, CBS Sports Network): The heretofore disappointing Rebels (11-6, 2-2 Mountain West) might have saved their season with a victory at New Mexico this week. They're talented enough to knock off the Aztecs (15-1, 4-0), but Wednesday was by far their most impressive outing of the season.

Louisville at Connecticut (Saturday, 9, ESPN): Just as Thursday was huge for Connecticut, this is an important opportunity for Louisville to bolster its resume with a quality road victory.

Minnesota at Iowa (Sunday, 1, Big Ten Network): If you're Minnesota, why not get greedy after defeating Ohio State? The Hawkeyes, meanwhile, haven't played since their own upset of the Buckeyes on Sunday.